Stores Jumping The Gun On Holiday Season Sales

November 22, 2002|By Joseph Mann Business Writer and Business Writer Purva Patel contributed to this report.

Even though the holiday shopping season traditionally has begun the day after Thanksgiving, several big South Florida retailers this year aren't waiting around for shoppers to digest their Thanksgiving Day dinners before kicking off sales events.

Days before the Thanksgiving turkey is pulled out of the freezer or put on the chopping block, big stores packed local newspapers with ads announcing an early start to holiday specials, including Thanksgiving sales, pre-Thanksgiving sales and one-day sales that actually last for two.

Macy's offered a wide range of specials on Tuesday (the preview day) and Wednesday (the sale day), with some bargains limited to a four-hour period.

Burdines stores had their one-day sale on Thursday, offering up to 50 percent off on certain items, with bargains also available on Wednesday, the preview day.

Lord & Taylor announced 25 percent to 50 percent off on some merchandise from Thursday to Sunday in its pre-Thanksgiving sale and JC Penney offered 20 percent to 60 percent off on overstocked and discontinued items at its catalog outlet from Wednesday until they run out.

"There are six fewer shopping days than usual this year, and we had a huge drop in the consumer confidence figure in October," said Mark Vitner, an economist with Wachovia Securities who watches the retail sector. "Retailers aren't waiting to find out whether this season turns out better or worse than expected. They're out there promoting as aggressively as they can right now, and I expect that to continue right up through the holiday season."

Linda DiZinno, general manager of The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale, agreed with this assessment. "I think a pattern has developed over the last few years where the retailers really push pre-Thanksgiving," she said. "Stores are marking down earlier."

The advertising blitz plus the lure of lower prices seem to have worked.

Andrea Horn, general manager of the Boynton Beach Mall, said that one-day sales by Macy's and Burdines this week drew bigger crowds. "Macy's had the preview of its one-day sale yesterday [Wednesday] and it was very crowded there were long lines at the cash registers," she said.

"At Galleria, we've been very busy for the last few days," said DiZinno. And last week, she added, before the early promotions started, merchants reported that business was a little better than last year, with cool and rainy weather helping to boost sales. "When people are off the beach they go shopping," she said.

Some stores, however, adopted another approach.

Delray Beach-based Levenger isn't offering any special discounts, but this month stepped up radio advertising and started running television ads for the first time, said Steve Leveen, the company's president. The direct marketer sells home and office furniture and accessories via catalogs, but decided to run local ads to attract customers to its store in Delray Beach.

The store ordered less inventory than last year in anticipation of weaker sales. "We're hoping for a strong Christmas but not planning on it," Leveen said.